Life With Lee
by AnimeOtaku4444
Summary: This is a romance revolving around Rock Lee and a born-female Uzumaki Naruto, sorry, no yaoi. There's one or two OCs, but they're minor characters. Some of the history is slightly different, as you'll see. ON HIATUS
1. The Girl In The Glade

The Girl In The Glade

Lee was running through the forest on the outskirts of Konoha. He was thirteen, but he was still a Genin. That was about to change though. Gai-sensei had agreed to enter their team into the Chuunin exam this year. Lee was sure he would pass. He almost felt ready to challenge Neji again, and he was hoping the exam would give him that opportunity. He knew from discussing it with Gai-sensei that most of the exam would be conducted in their three-man team, but that the main part, the last part, would be conducted individually.

Lee was looking forward to making it to the end, and getting to fight all the strong contenders. It was getting dark, so he was about to make his way back to the village for supper before his post-dinner training session which lasted until midnight, when he stumbled upon something completely unexpected.

In the middle of a clearing, there was the most beautiful girl Lee had ever seen. She looked like a blonde angel. She was wearing a forehead-protector, and on the trees surrounding her were numerous Shuriken practice-boards. He could tell by looking at them that, while this girl had nothing on Ten-Ten, she was still an excellent shot. Considering the fact that Shurikens were Ten-Ten's forte, there was no shame in being deemed inferior to her in that category. Just then, the girl started to stir.

Her eyes opened, and she sat up. Lee was intrigued. He knew she must be one of that year's rookie Genins, because she was definitely a ninja, but he'd never seen her before. When the girl sat up and looked around, she spotted him. She looked surprised, then worried. Her hand shot to her hair, and ran down from the top to the end of one of two ponytails. A dark look flashed across her face before she stood up.

She walked over to the nearest practice-board and started pulling out the kunai and shuriken, and packing them into her bag. Lee took a deep breath and walked over to her. "My name is Rock Lee. I don't believe we've met. Let's go out together! I will protect you until I die!" He flashed her one of his best 'cool-guy' smiles, and his teeth twinkled in the moonlight.

The girl glowered at him. "Are you an idiot or something? I'm a ninja, I don't need anyone's protection. I'm perfectly capable of protecting myself. Besides, I don't have time for boys, I only have time for training. Get lost." Lee looked dejected for a bit, but then he had an idea. "How about we train together then? I'm an expert at taijutsu. Perhaps I could help you with that."

The girl hesitated, as if she wanted to say yes. "Maybe some other time. I was just heading back for dinner." Lee grinned. "Me too! How about I treat you?" This time the girl smiled. "You just spoke my favourite words. How about this? If you can bring me Ichiraku ramen before it gets cold, I'll train with you tomorrow. I need to work on my taijutsu for the Chuunin exam anyway." Lee was impressed, it wasn't often rookie Genins were entered into the exam. "Alright. If the ramen is cold by the time I get back with it, I'll do five hundred push-ups." With that, he sped off, leaving nothing but a dust-trail in his wake.


	2. Sexy No Jutsu

Sexy No Jutsu

Naruto sighed heavily. She hated it when she was caught sleeping. Ever since she was a small child, she'd used the transformation technique to make herself look like a boy, but when she fell asleep the jutsu automatically dispelled. She'd been practicing the technique one day in her room, trying to turn into the Hokage. In class she'd only been able to turn into very ugly versions of him. She said she was doing it on purpose, but everyone laughed at her.

She was angry. She wanted to show them that she could do it right. She'd been thinking about wanting to be stronger, wanting to be stronger than everyone else. She'd been cursing herself for being so weak. Then she'd performed the technique. When she'd opened her eyes and looked in her mirror, she realised that she was a perfectly male version of herself. She'd been happy. Everyone was always telling her that, even if she worked as hard as she possibly could for the rest of her life, female ninja could never be as good as male ninja.

That was how it started. From that day on, the only time she was ever a girl, was when she was asleep. It had been exhausting at first, keeping the technique up all day, and learning to perform other jutsus in that state, without the transformation dispelling, but she'd mastered it within a few days. When she'd slipped up, she'd just passed it off as the 'sexy no jutsu'. Ever since then, she'd always hated being caught napping.

It was even worse these days, because her chest was starting to come in. She looked more like a girl each day. Usually the only way she could tell which form she was in was the length of her hair. She had long ponytails as a girl, but when she transformed she had short spikes. Still, if she'd gotten free ramen out of this mess, then perhaps it was worth it for once. Also, this Rock Lee boy didn't have 'those' eyes. The eyes that looked at her and saw only a monster.

Until the incident that year, when Mizuki-sensei had tricked her, she'd never known why she was the only child in the village whom everyone stared at with cold eyes. The adults had always turned their backs on her, whispered to each other whilst glaring at her, and several times she'd been called a monster. She hadn't understood, and she'd hated them for making her feel so alone. It was the most painful feeling she could ever have imagined. Now, she knew the truth. The Kyuubi was sealed inside her.

She was the container for a monster. The news would have made her cry if she hadn't gotten sick of crying years ago. Crying changed nothing. Only hard work, and strict training, so that she could eventually become Konoha's Hokage, would change things.

Naruto grinned at the memory of her teammates' faces when she'd passed out from injury in front of them for the first time, and they'd discovered that he was actually a she. Sasuke had been surprised that she didn't drool over him like all the other girls, and Sakura had been surprised that she'd ever had the slightest crush on Naruto.


	3. The Chuunin Exam

Lee returned, with piping hot ramen, and they ate together. When Naruto learned that Lee wasn't finished training yet, she decided to join him. It was almost one in the morning by the time she got home, bedraggled and exhausted. It sickened her, how energetically Lee had said his goodbyes before heading in the direction of his own home. Naruto's stamina was one of the few areas where she'd been complimented, but she had nothing on Lee.

Naruto met up with Lee again several times over the next couple of weeks, in secret, for intense training sessions. Naruto practiced her taijutsu by attacking Lee with several Shadow Clones, and practiced her ninjutsu when she got too tired to continue, while Lee kept up his taijutsu practice. They weren't a bad combination, as far as training went anyway. Naruto still refused any romantic advances, but they were soon firm friends.

The day before the exam, Naruto had a chat with Lee, and made a deal with him which she perhaps shouldn't have. She told him that, during the exam, she'd be disguising herself as a boy. She asked him not to ask her why, but to rather trust her, and understand that she had her reasons. She said that, if he promised not to tell anyone that she was a girl, she'd make a deal with him.

If he beat her during the exam, or if he got further in the exam than she did, she'd go on a date with him. Just one date, and he had to treat her to ramen. Of course, Lee enthusiastically agreed, and his hopes of wooing her were rekindled. Later, Naruto sat on her bed and sighed. She was thinking about what she'd said, and wondering if it had been such a good idea. She liked Lee, but only as a friend. She honestly felt nothing more for him. She'd never had a crush on anyone before.

Finally, the Chuunin exam came around. The first exam was nerve-wracking for Naruto, who completely failed to cotton on to the true test of the exam, gathering information covertly, but she got through. The second exam was easier in a way, because it was something Naruto knew how to deal with, but it was still difficult. The other teams taking the exam were no light-weights. Still, her team made it to the tower with both scrolls without too much trouble.

Then they'd received the news that they'd be battling one-on-one to halve their numbers, because too many teams had made it through. Sasuke won easily, then Shino. Kankurou, the first sand ninja, won without breaking a sweat, then Sakura and Ino tied with a double knockout. Then the second sand ninja, Temari, easily defeated Ten-Ten, and Shikamaru outwitted his opponent from the Rain.

Finally it was Naruto's turn. Kiba was a strong opponent, and a close-range fighter like her, but she surprised everyone by winning the battle. Next, Neji harshly defeated Hinata, and Naruto swore her vow to defeat him in the final leg of the Chuunin exam. Next, the final Mist ninja defeated Chouji within seconds, but luckily did him no real harm. Last of all, was Lee's battle against Gaara.


	4. The Green Beast vs Gaara of The Desert

Lee used every trick in his repertoire, every forbidden technique he knew, but no matter what he tried, Gaara's sand always found a way to protect him. Then, the unthinkable occurred, and Lee's left arm and leg were both crushed. It about broke her heart, seeing Lee like that, but Naruto didn't look away. Then, even though he was unconscious, and one of his legs was crushed, Lee stood up, and took up his fighting stance once more.

When Naruto saw that, real tears began to pour down her cheeks. When the medical team put him on a stretcher and started to move him, she didn't hesitate. She jumped onto the railing of the viewing balcony, ready to hop down and rush to Lee's side. Kakashi put his hand on her arm before she could do that.

"Naruto, even if you go down there, what can you do? It's only going to be tougher on him if you try to cheer him up." Naruto growled at him. "Who said anything about cheering him up?" She jumped down and ran to Lee's side. When she saw that there was nothing she could do for him, that he couldn't hear anything she might say, she decided to do what was best for him, and let the medical team handle him.

Instead, she turned to Gai-san. Lee was his favourite pupil, and he was clearly shaken. She heard one of the medical team approach him, and quietly inform him that Lee couldn't be a ninja anymore because of the severity of the injuries to his arm and leg. When he just stood there, looking lost, she started to feel angry, so she did the only thing she could think of. "Oi, what are you standing here for? They're taking Lee away now. If you're coming with me, then get moving already."

Without waiting for him to respond, she spun around and took off after Lee's stretcher. The two of them sat outside of the operating room, waiting for news, while medical personnel frantically tried to save Lee's limbs. If infection got into them, they would possibly have to be amputated.

It was several hours before they brought Lee out, and put him in a private room. They weren't happy about two people visiting him at the same time, and tried to ask Naruto to go home for the night, but Naruto got stubborn with them, and in the end she fell asleep at Lee's bedside, revealing her secret to Gai. Once he'd gotten over his shock, he smiled a little, and kept watching the two until dawn.

When Naruto woke up, she tried to convince Gai to go home and get some rest, and let her take the day shift, but in the end, he sent her home instead. She came back a little after dusk and relieved Gai. He returned at dawn. It was several days before Lee woke up, during Naruto's shift.

He didn't say anything, but he opened his eyes for a minute, and looked around, before falling back to sleep. The next day he woke up properly. He sat up, and winced at the pain from his arm and leg. Luckily infection hadn't set in, but the injuries were still very severe.


	5. Healing

The nurse had told Naruto that it was likely that the limbs would never fully recover. Lee looked at her for a long time before he spoke. "What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be training for the main tournament?" Naruto grinned at him. "I train during Gai-san's shift. He's here every day, from dawn to dusk. I have the night shift." Lee looked away. "How bad is it? The damage..." Naruto's grin faded, and she looked serious.

"It's not good. Nobody here is skilled enough to heal you completely. Don't worry though. There's this woman called Tsunade. She's one of the Legendary Sanin, and she's said to be the best medical ninja in the world. She's on a very important mission at the moment, with her husband Dan, but she'll be back in a couple of days. If anyone can heal you, and make it so that you can still be a ninja, it's her. It looks like we'll have to postpone our date. Sorry."

Lee looked at her, surprised. "But... I lost. I didn't make it to the tournament, and you did. You made it further than me in the exam." Naruto smiled gently at him. "After you were knocked out, you stood up again. You had a crushed leg, and you were unconscious, but you stood back up. Lee, you've already proven to everyone that you're an excellent ninja. I couldn't have done that, therefore you beat me.

Don't argue with me, okay? Or did you not really want to go on that date?" Lee looked surprised, but he shook his head. "I still want to go." Naruto smiled again. "I thought you'd say that. We'll go as soon as Tsunade's fixed you. Go back to sleep now. You must get your strength up for an operation, in case she needs to do one."

It irked Naruto, having to wait for Tsunade to get back from her mission. She knew it would take a few days, but they seemed to crawl by. Gai was assigned missions with his team, and Naruto was kept busy by her newfound teacher, Perverted Hermit, but they always made sure there was someone to keep Lee company while they were gone, even if it was just to keep an eye on him, so he didn't try to sneak out to train for the umpteenth time.

Lee stopped trying to train though after Naruto scared him by suggesting that he could worsen his injuries until they were totally beyond repair if he tried it even just one more time. Finally, the day arrived, and Tsunade returned.

She needed some time to rest, because the mission hadn't gone perfectly to plan, and it had ended up being even more difficult than it was originally going to be. Nobody had died though, and that was the most important thing. The day after she returned, she came to the hospital to take a look at Lee. The news wasn't what Gai and Naruto had been hoping for.


	6. Conversation With Gai

Warning: This chapter comes mostly from a scene in the anime

"You should quit being a ninja. The only thing I can do for you is an operation with a 50% chance of success. If it fails, you'll die. You could die even if the operation succeeded. You'd be better off finding a new career." Lee was devastated, but that night he had a serious conversation with Gai. They talked about the day when Lee first became Gai's student, and he'd proudly proclaimed that it was his dream to prove that he could become an excellent ninja with Taijutsu alone.

Lee talked about his happiness at being told by his sensei that he could become a great ninja if he was just willing to work hard enough, and that when he'd started to despair that he'd never be able to defeat his genius rival Neji with hard work alone, Gai had told him that he was a genius of hard work. He broke into tears, saying that he didn't think hard work or believing in himself would save him this time, and begged him for advice. Gai remembered all of the forbidden techniques, which undermined the user, Lee had been willing to learn, and all of the times Lee had been ready to put his life on the line for his way of the ninja.

Gai told Lee that he had to make a decision; that Lee was like him in that he was an idiot who couldn't live without his way of the ninja. He told Lee to get the operation. Lee told him that, before his arrival, he'd been remembering the Rock-Paper-Scissors match Gai had fought with Kakashi, and how Gai had said that luck was one of his skills that day. The operation had a 50% chance of success, but it wasn't like a game of Rock-Paper-Scissors. If it failed, he would die.

Gai reminded Lee that, after that Rock-Paper-Scissors match, he'd taught Lee about the 'My Rules' training strategy, and promised to work as hard as he could to turn Lee into an excellent ninja. He told Lee that the operation couldn't possibly fail, because his body was in such good condition from working so hard for all those years. He even said that making him into the excellent ninja he was so desperate to be had become the way of the ninja he couldn't live without.

He promised that, if by the slimmest possible chance the operation failed, he would die along with Lee. Bursting into tears once more, and bear-hugging his sensei, Lee decided to take the operation. Gai just smiled down at his beloved student. He really was exactly the same as how he'd been as a boy.

Naruto agreed with Gai, and encouraged Lee. In the meanwhile, Tsunade studied as hard as she could, and in the end, she managed to increase the likelihood of success to 58%. Lee received the operation, and he survived. Within a few days he was doing light training again. He was able to walk to the stadium where the main matches of the Chuunin exam would take place without crutches.


	7. The Final Tournement

Although nine Genins had passed the preliminary exam, the only ninja from the Mist to make it through disappeared under mysterious circumstances before the main matches, so only eight contenders were left. The first match was Naruto vs Neji. It was an exhausting battle, but Naruto surprised everyone yet again, and won the match. Next was Sasuke vs Gaara, the most highly anticipated match of the tournament.

Everyone expected great things of Sasuke, because he was a nephew of one of the great Sannins. Sasuke was beaten, despite having mastered Chidori during his secret training with Kakashi. The Jounins had to step in to stop Gaara from killing him. It was quite a shock for the audience.

Then, Shino defeated Kankurou. He had to be hospitalized afterwards because he'd been poisoned. Next, Shikamaru cornered Temari, but forfeited before he could defeat her, because he ran out of chakra. The contestants who'd won were given until the next day to recover, because the daimyos and guests wanted to see them fight at their peak performance levels.

The next day, Naruto and Gaara tied in an explosive battle which would have destroyed the stadium used the previous day, which was why the Hokage, one of the few who knew that they were both Jinchuuriki, wisely chose to hold the match in a far bigger stadium at the edge of the village. Several audience members screamed, ran out, fainted, or did a combination of the three, when Shuukaku was fully formed, and again when Naruto transformed Gamabunta into a Kyuubi.

Even the Third was shocked to see it. The battle was Jounin level. In comparison, Shino's battle with Temari looked like two children in their first year of the ninja academy messing about. Shino lost in the end, because there was no way for his bugs to disable Temari's fan. Technically, Temari won the tournament. The next day a ceremony was held for those being made Chuunins. In the end, only Shikamaru and Temari were selected.

A few days later Naruto was released from hospital. After her fight with Gaara she'd passed out, so now everyone knew that she was a girl. That had been the biggest shock of the tournament. Nobody could believe how much stronger she was compared to the other female Genins. Even Hinata couldn't compare, and she had a Bloodline Limit, but she was weaker than Neji, and Naruto had defeated Neji in the exam.

At any rate, since her secret had been revealed, there was no point in making herself look like a boy in public anymore, so she was able to be herself when Lee took her to Ichiraku on that date. Naruto impressed Lee with how many bowls of Ramen she was able to eat. He tried to keep up, but even he started feeling a little ill after his third bowl.

He gave Naruto flowers he'd bought at Ino's family's store, and learnt something new about Naruto. She preferred wild flowers, hand-picked by the person giving them to her, and given for no reason at all, not just on special occasions. Lee wrote down what she told him as enthusiastically and seriously as he always wrote Gai's advice.

Life With Lee has gone on a temporary hiatus due to a combination of November University Exams, and a minor case of writer's block. However, the summer holidays are almost here for me, which should do a phenomenal job of inspiring me as usual, so Life With Lee should be back on track by February. In the mean time, I suggest you read my Harry Potter fanfic instead. It's even better written than Life With Lee, and will be back on schedule as of today, now that exams are over, and I just found out the last of my results, and I have no Supplementary Exams. Yay! Thank you for your patience and understanding.


End file.
